- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
- Death toll from Hurricane John hits eight in Mexico
- Storm Helene's toll rises as rescue and cleanup efforts gain pace
- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding as cleanup begins
- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
- S.African woman turns 118, among the oldest in the world
- UK clears $4 bn AI partnership between Amazon, Anthropic
- Barca fans barred from Champions League away game over racist banner
- Chinese stocks extend surge, Europe higher on Beijing stimulus
- Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse
- China caps week of 'bazooka' stimulus for ailing economy with rate cut
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
- France's debt weighs heavier ahead of budget debate
- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
- Return to sender: waste stranded at sea stirs toxic dispute
- 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
- Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium
- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
- Vietnam president reiterates support for Cuba during official visit
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
- Poverty rises to over 52 percent in Milei's Argentina
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala Harris
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- China stimulus, tech optimism boost stock markets
- 'Unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- South Korea surges in UN innovation index
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala
- Floods threaten Niger's historic 'gateway to the desert'
- China economy hopes boost global equities
- Ubisoft shares sink after 'Assassin's Creed' delay
- German economy to shrink again in 2024: think tanks
India to sell 5% of insurance giant in huge IPO
India plans to sell a five percent stake in insurance giant LIC in what could potentially be the country's largest initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is desperate for proceeds from the IPO of the Life Insurance Corporation of India and the sale of other state assets to help fix its tattered public finances.
Founded in 1956 by nationalising and combining 245 insurers, LIC was synonymous with life insurance in post-independence India for decades until the entry of private companies in 2000.
Despite a steady decline in market share, LIC continues to lead the pack with 64 percent of the life insurance market in the country of 1.4 billion people.
With staff of more than 100,000 people, its vast assets under management of 36.7 trillion rupees ($491 billion) equate to nearly 16 percent of India's gross domestic product.
LIC in turn is one of India's biggest institutional investors, with significant stakes in Indian blue-chip stocks like Reliance, TCS, Infosys and ITC.
According to LIC's draft prospectus filed with the market regulator on Sunday, the government plans to sell around 316 million shares in the IPO, which is expected to take place in March.
While the pricing has not yet been set, analysts expect the IPO to dwarf that of payments firm Paytm, which raised $2.5 billion in November in India's largest public share sale to date.
- Courting first-time investors -
The government hopes LIC's IPO will attract legions of first-time investors to the stock market, in a country where less than five percent of people have trading accounts.
It will be a crucial step in Modi's policy to "monetise and modernise" state-run companies and plug an estimated 16-trillion-rupee budget deficit this financial year in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this month, the government drastically cut its divestment target for the current year from 1.75 trillion rupees to 780 billion rupees.
Of this, the government has raised only 120.3 billion rupees by selling stakes in various state-owned entities this financial year, government data shows.
This puts New Delhi on course to miss its privatisation target for a third straight year despite concluding the long-delayed sale of flag carrier Air India to the Tata Group last month.
The IPO of LIC though will require additional transparency of the insurance behemoth's operations, which has more than 2,000 branches and an army of around one million "LIC agents".
LIC's real estate assets include vast offices at prime locations in different Indian cities, including a distinctively curved Art Deco building in Mumbai's financial district and a 15-storey LIC Building in Chennai that was once India's tallest building.
The firm is also believed to own a large collection of rare and valuable artwork that includes paintings by MF Hussain -- known as the Pablo Picasso of India -- although the value of these holdings has not been made public.
Srinath Sridharan, an independent markets commentator, likened LIC to one of India's "family jewels" and said that a successful IPO by the government could pave the way for others.
"If they can get this right, running a large entity and yet having the ability and agility to take care of minority shareholders' concerns, I think... it will be far easier to divest smaller entities, mid-sized entities," Sridharan told AFP.
C.Peyronnet--CPN